December 18, 2005

Fourth Sunday of Advent  (B)

Dr. Susan Fleming McGurgan

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 X Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29 X    Romans 16:25-27  X   Luke 1:26-38

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For anyone who has spent some time

wandering through scripture,

the words,

Do not be afraid

should make us stop in our tracks.

 

These words

should make our mouths go dry

and our hands get clammy.

 

These words

should raise the hairs on the back of our necks

and send our stomachs

into a vertical dive.

 

These words….

Do not be afraid

are actually a code—

a sign—

a signal that we are about to be taken

on one

wild

ride.

 

In fact,

when used in a Biblical context,

the words, Do not be afraid

could be loosely translated as,

            Fasten your seatbelts.

            God is about to turn everything

            upside down.

 

Do not be afraid, God said,

and then Moses found himself

leading the Israelites

through the desert…

for 40 years.

 

Do not be afraid, said the prophet Elijah,

and then he asked

the widow of Zerepath

to give up

her last morsel of food.

 

Do not be afraid, Jesus would say,

and then he invited Peter

to step out

onto the water.

 

Do not be afraid, said Gabriel,

and then an unmarried girl

became pregnant

through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Do not be afraid?

Yikes!

 

Gabriel told Mary,

Do not be afraid,

and then invited her

to believe the incredible;   

to accept the inconceivable;  

to embrace the impossible.

 

Do not be afraid, Mary.

But first,

why don’t you plunge

headlong into the unknown? 

Do not be afraid, Mary.

Now,

begin a journey that demands  

all of your courage,

all of your strength,

all of your faith.

 

Do not be afraid, Mary.

But get ready for exile,

bereavement and pain.

 

Do not be afraid, Mary.

Actually,

this means that you have found

favor with God!

 

It’s enough to make a girl wish

that she was a little less favored...   

 

Rejoice!

Do not be afraid!

God is nearer than you know!

 

For most of us,

this type of nearness

might be just a shade too close for comfort.

 

But Mary was willing to risk

everything she ever knew

so that God’s mercy

could reach from age to age.

 

In her,  

God’s song found a woman’s voice

and the lowly were lifted up.

 

Through her,

the promise to Abraham was fulfilled,

and God came to grow among us as a child

and see the world with peasant eyes.

 

Rejoice!

Do not be afraid!

God is with you!

 

This is Mary’s story.

 

It is our story, too.

 

This amazing story

of God-with-us

is everywhere you look.

 

It is felt in the loving touch of a son,

who nurses his elderly father.  

It is written in the sacrifice of a woman,

martyred to the cause of land reform for the poor.   

It is seen in the callused hands of a carpenter,

building a shelter for the homeless.   

It is riveted into the beams of sanctuaries

and carved into the wood of the cross.

 

This story is told and re-told

each time someone prays for a friend;

each time forgiveness is offered to an enemy.  

 

Rejoice!

Do not be afraid,

God is with you.  

 

This is our story.

These are our words.

 

And if we are truly listening,

these words should make us stop in our tracks.

These words should make our hearts pound

and our hands get clammy.

 

Because these words

can change the world.

 

These are the words spoken to Mary

on the day God’s promise was renewed.

“The Lord is with you.

Do not be afraid, Mary,

For you have found favor with God.”

 

These are also the words that filled the upper room

on the night Jesus knelt to wash the disciples’ feet. 

“Peace is my parting gift to you.

My own peace,

such as the world cannot give.

Do not be afraid,

I will not leave you alone.”

 

These are the words

that echo from the empty tomb on Easter morning:

“Do not be afraid.

He is going before you into Galilee.

You will see Him there.”

 

Rejoice,

Do not be afraid.

The Lord is with you.

 

There are times when this message

is easy to believe.

Times when we are surrounded by the love of family

or the comfort of success.

These words are easy to say

when friends gather around a fire

and the darkness is kept outside.

 

But what of the other times?

 

Times when storms have stripped you

of everything you know—

your home, your city, even your will to go on.

 

Times when a child is troubled or lost,

and the distant sound of sirens

fills you with fear.

 

Times when the phone rings,

and the diagnosis

brings you to your knees.

 

Times when despite our best efforts,

it looks like we have failed,

and we stand alone in the dark.

 

Rejoice.

Do not be afraid.

The Lord is with you.

 

This isn’t just a pretty saying

for the times we feel good about our lives.

This isn’t a theological pat on the back for a job well done,

or a fairy tale,

written for saints long ago and far away.

 

This is our own story;

A covenant made by someone

who knew how it felt

to be betrayed by a friend.

 

This is a promise

made by the God

who stoops to wash our feet.

 

This is the story of a God who loves us enough

to remain with us always--

even when we are on our knees

and everyone else has run away.

 

This is the message

that God wants us to hear so desperately

that Jesus walked out of the tomb to tell us:

Rejoice!

Do not be afraid!

God is with you!

 

Two thousand years ago,

a young girl listened to these words

and believed.

 

Two thousand years ago,

the Word of God

came to Mary,

and through her,

that Word became flesh

and lives among us.

 

Mary reminds us that this Word comes only as a gift.

It can’t be bought

or earned

or awarded as a prize.

 

It simply comes.

 

Unbidden,

unexpected,

and about as surprising as finding

God,

being born as a peasant child.

 

We acknowledge this gift

whenever the lowly are lifted up,

whenever the hungry are fed,

whenever truth is spoken to power,  

whenever promises are kept.

 

We offer this gift back to God

whenever we can say to those

who most need to hear it,

 

Rejoice!

Do not be afraid!

God is with you!

 

© Susan Fleming McGurgan